1857
Year 1857 (MDCCCLVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). Events of 1857 January - June * February 16 - The National Deaf Mute College (later renamed Gallaudet University) is established in Washington, becoming the first school for the advanced education of the deaf. * March 3 - France and the United Kingdom formally declare war on China in the Second Opium War. *March 4 - End of term for President of the United States Franklin Pierce. He is succeeded by James Buchanan. * March 6 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case, driving the country further towards the American Civil War. * March 21 - Earthquake in Tokyo, Japan kills over 100,000. * March 23 - Elisha Otis' first elevator is installed (at 488 Broadway, New York City). * May 10 - Indian rebellion of 1857: The 3rd Light Cavalry of the British East India Company's army rebels against its British officers, thus beginning the rebellion. * May 11 - Indian rebellion of 1857: Indian combatants capture Delhi from the East India Company. * June 6 - Sophia of Nassau marries the future King Oscar II of Sweden-Norway. July - December * July 15 - Indian rebellion of 1857: The second massacre at Kanpur takes place. * August - Calcutta University established. * September 11 - Mountain Meadows Massacre in Utah. * September 12 - The SS Central America sinks off the coast of North Carolina, killing 425 people. * October 24 - Sheffield F.C., the world's first association football team, is founded in Sheffield, England. *November 30 - End of term for President of Mexico Ignacio Comonfort. He is succeeded by Félix María Zuloaga. * December 16 - An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.9 kills 11,000 people in Naples, Italy. * December 31 - Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as the capital of Canada. Undated * Divorce without parliamentary approval becomes legal in Britain. * Speculation in U.S. railway shares causes financial crisis in Europe. * The Mormons abandon Las Vegas. * Founding of Hollywood. * Restoration of the Mexican republic (see Mexico/History). * Discovery of La Tene culture artifacts in Switzerland by Hansli Kopp. * University of Bombay established. * The Mughal Empire is finally destroyed by the British Empire. * The city walls of Vienna are demolished, allowing the construction of the Ringstraße. * William Daniel, American politician proposes Local Option for prohibition. * Biggest Estonian newspaper Postimees is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. Ongoing events * Second Opium War (1856-1860) * Anglo-Persian War (1856-1857) * Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864) Births January - June * January 4 - Émile Courtet, French caricaturist and animator (d. 1938) * January 26 - the 12th Dalai Lama (d. 1875) * February 13 - Almanzo James Wilder, Husband of author Laura Ingalls Wilder (d. October 23, 1949) * February 22 - Lord Robert Baden-Powell, English founder of the Scouting movement (d. 1941) * February 22 - Heinrich Hertz, German physicist (d. 1894) *March 7 - Julius Wagner-Jauregg, Austrian neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1940) * March 8 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d. 1919) *March 27 - Karl Pearson, statistician (d. 1936) * March 30 - Leon Charles Thevenin, French telegraph engineer (d. 1926) * April 5 - Alexander of Battenberg, first Prince of Bulgaria (d. 1893) * May 7 - William A. MacCorkle, Governor of West Virginia (d. 1930) * May 13 - Ronald Ross, English physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1932) * May 15 - Williamina Fleming, Scottish astronomer (d. 1911) * May 19 - John Jacob Abel, American pharmacologist (d. 1938) * May 31 - Pope Pius XI (d. 1939) * June 2 **Edward Elgar, English composer (d. 1934) **Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919) July - December * July 22 - Shams-ul-haq Azeemabadi, Islamic Scholar(d. 1911) * July 23 - Carl Meinhof, German linguist (d. 1944) * July 24 - Henrik Pontoppidan, Danish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943) * July 28 - Ballington Booth, Salvation Army Officer and co-founder of Volunteers of America (d. 1940) * July 30 - Thorstein Veblen, Norwegian economist (d. 1929) * August 14 - Max Wagenknecht, German composer (d. 1922) * September 5 - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian scientist and inventor (d. 1935) * September 8 - Georg Michaelis, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1936) * September 13 **Michał Drzymała, Polish peasant and revolutionary (d. 1937) **Milton S. Hershey, American chocolate manufacturer (d. 1945) * September 15 - William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States (d. 1930) * October 24 - Ned Williamson, American baseball player (d. 1894) * November 5 - Ida Tarbell, American journalist (d. 1944) * November 17 - George Marchant, English-born inventor, manufacturer, and philanthropist (d. 1941) * November 26 - Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist (d. 1913) * November 27 - Charles Scott Sherrington, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1952) * November 28 - King Alfonso XII of Spain (d. 1885) * December 3 - Joseph Conrad, Polish-British novelist (d. 1924) *''date unknown'' **Joseph Tabrar, British songwriter (d. 1931) **Lucy Bacon, Californian Impressionist Painter {d. 1932} **Shibli Nomani, Indian Muslim scholar. d. 1914 : See also 1857 births. Deaths *February 10 - David Thompson, British-Canadian explorer (b. 1770) *February 15 - Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (b. 1804) *February 16 - Elisha Kent Kane, American explorer of Arctic regions (b. 1820) *March 11 - Manuel José Quintana, poet (b. 1772) *March 26 - Thomas Peters, Dutch supercentenarian (b. 1745) *May 2 - Alfred de Musset, French poet (b. 1810) *May 11 - Eugène François Vidocq, French criminal and private detective (b. 1775) * May 13 - Parley P. Pratt, early Mormon church leader, murdered (b. 1807) *May 23 - Augustin Louis Cauchy, French mathematician (b. 1789) *June 30 - Alcide d'Orbigny, naturalist (b. 1802) *July 4 - Henry Montgomery Lawrence, soldier and statesman (b. 1806) *July 15 - Carl Czerny, Austrian composer (b. 1791) *July 19 - Stefano Franscini, member of the Swiss Federal Council (b. 1796) *July 29 - Charles Lucien Bonaparte, French naturalist and ornithologist (b. 1803) *August 3 - Eugène Sue, French novelist (b. 1804) *September 3 - John McLoughlin, Canadian trapper (b. 1784) *November 12 - Maximilian Spinola, entomologist (b. 1780) *November 26 - Joseph von Eichendorff, German poet (b. 1788) *December 3 - Christian Daniel Rauch, German sculptor (b. 1777) *December 15 - Sir George Cayley, English aviation pioneer (b. 1773) : See also 1857 deaths.